


Cobweb Crawlers

by FleetSparrow



Series: Drawlloween 2017 [7]
Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Spiders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-21 15:34:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12460719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FleetSparrow/pseuds/FleetSparrow
Summary: It's up to Officer Grayson to investigate mysterious disappearances.  But this case may be more than he bargained for.





	Cobweb Crawlers

**Author's Note:**

> Day 7 of Drawlloween prompts.

Abductions had been increasing in Gotham city.  Young men and women suddenly vanished from the streets, leaving no clues as to who their abductors were.

Except the spiders.  There were always spiders around after a disappearance.  Most of the police force didn't think much of it; there were always spiders in dark alleys and around dumpsters.  But Officer Dick Grayson noticed and he had a hunch.

When he was a boy, Dick had heard the legend of the Waynes.  Someone in their long past had been a practitioner of dark arts and sorcery.  No one was ever sure how accurate the stories were, but every older generation of Wayne had mysteriously disappeared after a new one was born, as if there was some sort of curse on the family.  And while spiders on their own are beneficial and helpful creatures, they're easy and popular subjects for evil works.

This was the reasoning Officer Grayson gave to his chief.  Somebody must still live in Wayne Manor, although the place was run down and seemingly abandoned.  What better place to hide victims than in a crumbling old manor house?

Warrant denied.  The Wayne family was not to be bothered.

That warning in itself told Dick all he needed to know.  He had to investigate the Wayne property.

The next night, he decided to head out and check it out for himself.  He could get away with it.  He was a cop; all he had to say was he heard what sounded like a cry for help.  If he found nothing, then no harm done.  But if he did find the victims, then it was worth whatever trouble he might find himself in.

He arrived at the house in full gear.  The gate at the entrance was all but falling off the hinges and allowed him clear passage into the driveway.  The front doors looked like they had fared better, but the outside of the house was overgrown with some kind of white ivy.  Dick almost reached out to touch it before he realized what it was.

Spider webs.  Massive, winding spider webs stretched all the way across the front of the house.  He shuddered and backed away, heading instead to the front door.  He knocked loudly and announced himself.  No answer.  He knocked again.  This time, when nothing happened, he tried the door and it swung effortlessly open.  Almost as if someone was expecting him.

He pulled out his Maglite and held it in his left hand, leaving his right free for his gun if needed.  Every inch of the house was covered in a thick layer of dust, and every bit of furniture was also covered in cobwebs.  It was like the house had been overrun with spiders for decades.

Dick called out as he surveilled the house, almost hoping to meet the kidnapper if it meant there was something human still in the house.  The first floor seemed clear, nothing but majestic rooms left abandoned to the spiders.  The stairwell was the cleanest spot in the place, with only dust on its railings.  Dick had the terrible feeling he was being invited up, as if someone had gone to the trouble of cleaning all the things he needed to touch.

Slowly, he made his way upstairs, panning his flashlight across the boards and upstairs landing.  The house was eerily silent, a loud silence that even takes the sound of your blood from your ears.  Everything seemed to be waiting for something.  Or someone.

Half of the doors were bound in thick cobwebs with spiders scuttling over them, so wrapped up they looked like they were sealed by the spider webs.  The rest were clear and almost dust free.

Dick had to make a choice, his flashlight or his gun.  The Maglite was good for a close range attack, but his gun would serve him better if something charged him.  He shook his head.  There could only be some _one_ here, not some _thing_.  He was looking for a human kidnapper, not some sort of monster.

Hooking his flashlight back in his belt just at the right angle to still give him light, he pulled out his gun and moved to the first door.  It was a bedroom.  A massive web spun around a long lump on the bed.  To Dick's horror, he could see the outline of a hand beneath the web.  What the hell was he dealing with?

The next few rooms were also bedrooms, all with bodies wrapped in them.  He mustered up the courage to slice one open, only to find the rotting corpse of one of their missing persons.  Normal spiders couldn't do this, not to a human.

The final room he checked turned out to be a study.  It was dark, even with his light, and he pulled it back out of his belt to get a better look around.  The room was filled with dark paneled wood that sucked the light right out of it whenever he passed his flashlight over.  In the far middle of the room stood a desk and a large chair, its back turned to him.

There was something about the way the chair sat that made gave Dick the feeling it might be occupied.  The same terror he felt at finding the bodies crept up on him again.  What if this was the last Wayne heir, bound to that chair in a web?  That would mean there was no human behind this.

Taking a deep breath, Dick steadied himself.

"This is Gotham Police.  Turn around slowly and keep your hands visible."

If he was talking to a corpse, he was going to crack up.

The chair turned.

A pale man in his mid-thirties stared back at him.  "Hello, Officer."

Dick let out a shuddering sigh of relief.  This was all normal.  A normal kidnapper he could deal with.

"Put your hands on the desk, sir."

The man smiled.  "You can’t just come into my home and order me around, you know.  It's very rude."

"Put your hands on the desk."

The man did, steepling his fingers.  "What do you think of my house?  It's not what it once was, but it's home."

"You're under arrest for the kidnapping and murder of seventeen people," Dick said, his voice managing to come out braver than he felt.  "Put your hands on top of your head and stand up."

"What's your name, Officer?"

"Put your hands on your head and stand--"

"Stand up, yes, I know."  The man did.  "I'm Bruce Wayne.  The last of the Wayne family."

Dick took a step forward, his gun still trained on Bruce.  "Come slowly around the desk and turn around."

Bruce started to come around the desk and then walked towards Dick.

"Stay back, sir."

"I don't think you'll use that," Bruce said, his voice low.  "You want to know what happened."

Dick took a step back involuntarily.  "Don't come any closer."

"You're wondering how spiders could do that to a human.  How they could feast on an entire body without a struggle."

The shadows around Bruce Wayne started to grow.  "How could even a handful of spiders attain that kind of power over a human?"

Dick backed away with each step towards him Bruce took.  "I won't warn you again," he said, cocking his gun.

"But the power doesn't come from them," Bruce said.  "The power comes from me."

Dick suddenly realized it wasn't the shadows growing around Bruce, but Bruce himself, growing into some towering, terrifying monstrosity.  Dick fired four times at the creature in front of him, but they bounced off harmlessly.

"Do you know how strong an exoskeleton is?" Bruce asked as he shed parts of his lower body, limbs dropping to the floor like broken doll legs.

Dick backed into the door frame and all but fell out of the room.  Spiders immediately began to crawl over him.  With a yelp, he stood, brushing them off as he looked for the exit.  The webs had moved.  One way was completely blocked by a giant web, an enormous garden spider in the middle.  Panicking, he ran the opposite way.

"Do you know the true speed of a spider?" Bruce said, calling after him.  His voice seemed to echo through the manor itself.

Dick ran at full speed until he hit a wall.  He turned around slowly, the wind knocked out of him.  He had been so sure this was the way out.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to share what you've learned," Bruce said.  Dick looked up and screamed.  The thing that called itself Bruce Wayne was right above him, the torso of a man on the body of a huge spider.

It dropped in front of him and grabbed him, lifting him with enormous strength.  The gun fell from Dick's hand.

"I could spare you, you know," Bruce said, pulling Dick close to his still human face.  "You're the only person to ever get this close to me.  That does thrill me."

Dick felt the Maglite slip in his hand and caught it.  With a mighty swing, he brought it down across Bruce's head, making him drop Dick to the floor.  While the creature swore, Dick scurried his way back down the hall.  He'd go right through that web if it meant escaping this horrid place.

The thud of too many legs sounded behind him and he ran faster, dropping the light in an effort to lighten himself.  He dove through the bottom of the web and found himself falling down the stairs.  Curling himself into a ball, he turned sideways, letting himself tumble down to the ground floor.

Stumbling to his feet, he limped his way towards the front door.  He'd hurt his leg something fierce in that fall, but if he had to run all the way home from Wayne Manor, he'd do it.  He was almost at the door when he realized the footsteps behind him had stopped.  He didn't dare look up, but the door seemed to move away from him, pulling itself back as if to trap him there.  He took two more staggering steps before Bruce Wayne dropped down before him.

"That wasn't very nice," Bruce said.  He grabbed Dick up again, this time holding him in a crushing grip.  "And I could have given you everything you'd ever need."

Dick squirmed in his grasp, but terror was overtaking him, exhausting his mind and his muscles.

"Don't worry.  This won't hurt a bit."

Dick looked at that so calm, so _human_ face in horror as the creature reared up.  Suddenly a searing pain tore through his spine and he gasped, shuddering as the poison pumped into him.

The last thing he ever saw was Bruce Wayne's smiling face.


End file.
